Vol. 502 No. 4
13 Mr. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures, if any, she has taken to achieve the commitments of Programme 2000 and An Action Programme for the Millennium to expand the local employment service and other job creation initiatives. [6417/99]
The local employment service is just one component of our National Employment Service function, with the other, and indeed larger, component being provided by FÁS. They have a critical role to play in helping unemployed people back into work, particularly in the context of our national action plan for employment. FÁS itself has undertaken a major reform and strengthening of its employ ment service and additional funding has been provided both to increase its personnel resource as well as its operating systems. Likewise the local employment service is being expanded to a further seven areas this year which will bring to 25 the number of areas throughout the country in which it is operational.
I am concerned to ensure we get the best possible value from the considerable resources – amounting to around £25 million in this current year – which we are investing in our employment services. We need to achieve better co-ordination and complementarity between the two strands of the service, which I believe can best be achieved through an improved organisational structure. I am developing proposals in that regard which I will bring to Government shortly. The aim is to ensure that the further development of our employment services and infrastructure will take place in a co-ordinated and coherently planned way and, in particular, ensure that the dangers of duplication of effort and resource, which exists under current arrangements, is avoided. I would, therefore, see any further development of our employment service taking place within this framework.
The Deputy's question refers to "job creation initiatives" and I take it the reference is to reintegration measures aimed at the unemployed. Since Partnership 2000 was agreed there has been an overall increase in labour market reintegration places under the aegis of my Department and the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs for long-term unemployed persons of at least 25,000.
The revised Estimate for my Department this year provides for 10,275 new places on active labour market initiatives including 875 new job initiative places, 1,500 bridging programme places to enable long-term unemployed to enter mainstream training and 5,200 job club places. In 1999 my Department will also provide for an average of 37,500 places on community employment.
The Government's aim in enhancing the range of active labour market places has been to focus on programmes with the best employability outcomes and to target places at specific disadvantaged cohorts in the labour market, such as very long-term unemployed and lone parents.
